Staff photo by Mike Buhler Clarkton's Tolby Richardson (right) shoots over Gideon's Dustin Horad during the second half of Friday's Tri-County Conference Tournament championship game at Cooter. [Click to enlarge]

COOTER, Mo. -- Going into Friday night, the Clarkton High School varsity basketball program had won 18 of its last 19 Tri-County Conference battles. The one loss? A buzzer-beating heartbreaker at the hands of Campbell in the finals of last year's conference tournament.

Just like last year, the Reindeer went into Friday night's Tri-County Conference finals undefeated in conference play, but this year, they stayed that way by outlasting the rival Gideon Bulldogs 68-54.

However the contest's opening period left the Reindeer having flashbacks as Dustin Horad got things started for Gideon by knocking down a 3-pointer in the corner on the 'Dogs first possession.

Gideon also turned up the heat on defense forcing Clarkton into numerous turnovers, leading to easy points on the other end. By the time the Reindeer knew what had hit them, they found themselves facing an 18-11 first-quarter deficit.

However thanks to a big quarter from junior guard Casey Redden, Clarkton (17-6) was able to weather the storm in the second quarter by cutting the lead to 29-28 going into halftime. The game was extremely low scoring in comparison with the two teams' earlier meeting this year in which the Reindeer scored 51 first-half points.

"I told our guys that championship games are often grind it out games," said Clarkton coach Scottie Blackburn. "That's what it was tonight."

As play resumed in the second half, Clarkton's all-everything shooting guard Dustin Ferguson showed us exactly why he is the reigning Tri-County Conference Player of the Year by tossing in 10 of his eventual 25 points in the third quarter.

"We knew how bad it felt last year to go undefeated in conference all season and then lose in the championship game of the tournament," Ferguson said. "It's nice to finish the job and get a championship this year."

Redden knocked down a runner from 25 feet away as the third-quarter buzzer sounded to give Clarkton a 45-40 lead going into the final quarter.

The 'Dogs (13-11) gave Clarkton everything it wanted and then some in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter by scoring the first seven points to take a 47-45 lead, forcing coach Blackburn to call a timeout.

However Clarkton responded tremendously following the timeout as a DeAngelo White lay in gave them a lead that they would never relinquish. With a minute to play, Ferguson penetrated, drew the foul and got the basket to go. After finishing off the old fashioned three point play with the free throw, it was all but over for the Bulldogs.

"We just had some shots that didn't go for us when we needed it but that's just part of it," Gideon coach Daniel Sexton said. "They have a really good bunch, their really talented and very well coached."

Fellow juniors Redden joined Ferguson in double digits for Clarkton with 16 points, while Devaris Parker added 10 and Justin Brown finished with nine.

On the other side, Gideon's Jordan Boone also had an impressive scoring night, finishing with 25 points to lead the Bulldogs, while Zack Robinson tossed in 13.

In the junior varsity final, Sexton's jayvee squad did take home a conference title Friday night though by knocking off Risco 75-73 in dramatic fashion.

"We saw our jayvee team's potential all along," said Sexton. "They really peaked at the right time and came through in a high pressure situation tonight."